KKCL drops Bates, shuffles creative duties

Kewal Kiran Clothing has shuffled the creative duties of its brands, collectively worth around Rs 20 crore, among three agencies

Kewal & #BANNER1 & # Kiran Clothing (KKCL), the menswear company, has shuffled the creative duties for its brands. The clothing company owns the brands, Killer, Integriti, Lawman and Easies, and the retail store chain, K-Lounge.

Earlier, three of its brands, Killer, Integriti and Easies, were handled by Bates David Enterprise, while another agency, Think Theory, handled the creative duties for Lawman and K-Lounge. From now, K-Lounge will be handled by Fortune Communications, Integriti and Lawman by Think Theory, and Killer and Easies by Karan Rawat, former creative director at Bates. Rawat started his own agency after he quit Bates in October 2006.

Killer Jeans

There was no pitch process involved for the four apparel labels, but the K-Lounge business saw a pitch before it moved from Think Theory to Fortune Communications. The move was prompted by a need for a more retail oriented vision.

When asked for the reasons for the reshuffle, Dheeraj Vashisht, head, marketing, KKCL, explains, "Since we weren't happy with the creative approach that Bates was taking, we decided to move on."

However, Subhash Kamat, chief executive officer, Bates David Enterprise, says, "There were certain differences and it was best that we parted ways."

Regarding Rawat, Vashisht says, "We liked Karan's work and the long association he has had with Killer and that prompted us to make the move." Rawat is responsible for the Breathe Easy campaign conducted for Easies, KKCL's semi-formal menswear brand.

The ad spends for the year for all the KKCL brands are believed to be Rs 20 crore. A major chunk of this - about Rs 5-7 crore each - is allotted to Killer and K-Lounge. Around Rs 3 crore is allotted to each of the other three brands. The media mix will mainly include print and outdoor. KKCL looks to associate itself with a lot of below the line activities.

Work has already started on the new campaigns and Killer's campaign should be out in the beginning of March.